Rogue bank staff to be named and shamed

Law-breaking bank employees may find it harder to hide their transgressions from future employers and consumers if the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) plans to set up a publicly-available industry register come to fruition.

The ABA said that as part of a raft of new consumer protection measures unveiled by the association, it wants to implement an industry register much like ASIC's financial advisers register.

"[It] would extend existing identification of rogue advisers to any bank employees, including customer facing and non-customer facing roles," an industry statement released by the ABA said.

"This will help prevent the recruitment of individuals who have breached the law or codes of conduct."

Addressing media yesterday, ABA chief executive Steven Münchenberg said that privacy considerations would need to be considered since the proposal to set up a public register could affect careers.

"What we don't want is a system that is open to abuse. We don't want a system where people who haven't done the wrong thing end up on the register," he said.

"But equally we need to make sure there's a system so that if people are breaking the law, or they are breaking a bank code of conduct that that information is available to future prospective employers who understand that before they take on those employees."

Mr Munchenberg said there are currently 150,000 people employed in the Australian banking industry, so it is important to "manage the privacy law and take that into consideration".

The consumer package unveiled by the ABA yesterday also included details of an independent review of products sales commissions to be led by Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers senior partner Gina Cass- Gottlieb.

The ABA also pledged to standardise the protection of whistleblowers across banks.

"This package aims to address consumer concerns about remuneration, the protection of whistleblowers, the handling of customer complaints and dealing with poor conduct," Mr Münchenberg said.